GERUND

1. Describe an action that is related to and simultaneous with the action of the main verb, usually translated as while or upon:

   En voyant les fleurs, elle a pleuré.
   Upon seeing the flowers, she cried.
   
   Il ne peut pas parler en travaillant.
   He can't talk while working.

2. Explain how or why something happens:

   C'est en pratiquant que vous le faites bien.
   It's by practicing that you do it well.
   
   Elle a maigri en faisant beaucoup d'exercise.
   She got thin by excercising a lot.

3. Replace a relative clause:
   
   

   les étudiants venant de l'Afrique ...qui viennent de l'Afrique	students who come from Africa
   les médecins parlant français ...qui parlent français	doctors who speak French

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French Grammar